Lauren Alaina, Brothers Osborne and Dustin Lynch announced the final nominees for “The 51st Annual CMA Awards” Monday morning live from ABC’s “Good Morning America” studio in New York’s Times Square.

Alaina emerged as a first-time nominee, making her debut in the New Artist of the Year category. Brothers Osborne will once again vie for Vocal Duo of the Year and also received a first-time nomination for Music Video with their anthemic “It Ain’t My Fault.”

The artists revealed six categories live on-air, then announced the remaining six categories, along with finalists for the CMA Broadcast Awards, on GoodMorningAmerica.com as well as via “Good Morning America’s” Facebook page through Facebook Live and simulcast on “Good Morning America’s” YouTube channel.

Little Big Town and Keith Urban each garner four nominations, tying for the second most nominations this year.

Little Big Town’s nominations include Single, produced by Jay Joyce and mix engineered by Jason Hall and Joyce; Music Video of the Year directed by Becky Fluke and Reid Long for “Better Man”; Album of the Year for The Breaker, also produced by Joyce; and Vocal Group of the Year. This is Little Big Town’s fourth nomination for Music Video. They have been nominated in past years for “Pontoon” (2012), “Tornado” (2013), and “Girl Crush” (2015). They are seven-time CMA Awards winners and this year’s nods bring their career total to 26 nominations. Taylor Swift received her 23^rd nomination for writing “Better Man,” marking her second nomination for Song of the Year and first CMA Awards nod since 2014.

Urban tallied up nominations for Entertainer of the Year, Single and Music Video of the Year for “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and Male Vocalist. This is his thirteenth nomination for Male Vocalist and he is a three-time consecutive winner in this category (2004-2006). Urban is a 10-time CMA Awards winner. Songwriters for “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, and Steven Lee Olsen earned a nod for Song of the Year. “Blue Ain’t Your Color” Music Video Director Carter Smith is a first-time nominee. “Blue Ain’t Your Color” producer Dann Huff and mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge also earned nods. Urban received one nomination for Single of the Year, but can receive an additional trophy as producer.

Eric Church and Chris Stapleton each earned three nominations.

Church scored recognition in the Entertainer of the Year category, as well as Male Vocalist, his sixth consecutive nomination, and Musical Event of the Year for “Kill A Word” featuring first-time nominee Rhiannon Giddens. He is a three-time CMA Award winner with 25 total career nominations.

Five-time CMA Awards winner Stapleton is nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist and Album for From A Room: Volume 1, which was produced by Dave Cobb and Stapleton. He receives one nomination for album, but can receive an additional trophy as producer. This is Stapleton’s third consecutive nomination for Male, which he’s won the past two years. He was also nominated for Entertainer last year and won Album for Traveller in 2015. He is an 11-time CMA Awards nominee.

Brothers Osborne, Sam Hunt, Lady Antebellum and Jon Pardi garnered two nominations.

Reigning CMA Vocal Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne earns their third nomination in this category. They also received their first Music Video nod for “It Ain’t My Fault,” directed by Wes Edwards and Ryan Silver. They’ve earned five career nominations.

Hunt was recognized in the Single and Song categories for the record-setting “Body Like A Back Road,” produced and mix engineered by Zach Crowell, and written by Crowell, Hunt, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne. In 2015, Hunt received the same nods for “Take Your Time.” He is a five-time CMA Awards nominee.

Lady Antebellum is nominated for Vocal Group of the Year and Album for their latest effort Heart Break, produced by busbee. Their previous records Need You Now (2010) and Own The Night (2012) both received Album nods. They are a 10-time consecutive (2008-2017) Vocal Group nominee and have won the category three years back to back (2009-2011).

Newcomer Pardi burst onto the Awards scene with his first two CMA nominations this year. “Dirt On My Boots,” which he co-produced with Bart Butler, earned him a nod in the Single of the Year category. He receives one nomination as the artist, but can receive an additional trophy as producer. The song was mix engineered by Ryan Gore. “Dirt On My Boots” songwriters Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, and Ashley Gorley are also nominees. Additionally, Pardi received a New Artist of the Year nomination.

Other first time CMA Awards nominees include Alaina, Combs, and Young in the New Artist of the Year category, and LOCASH in Duo. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit debuted in Album of the Year with The Nashville Sound, produced by Cobb.

The 51st Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, will be broadcast live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, November 8th at 8pm ET on ABC.

For more information and a full list of nominees, visit CMAawards.com.

 
The Final Nominees for “The 51st Annual CMA Awards” (by ballot category order):

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Garth Brooks

Luke Bryan

Eric Church

Chris Stapleton

Keith Urban

SINGLE OF THE YEAR

(Award goes to Artist, Producer(s), and Mix Engineer(s))

“Better Man” – Little Big Town

Producer: Jay Joyce

Mix Engineers: Jason Hall, Jay Joyce

“Blue Ain’t Your Color” – Keith Urban

Producers: Dann Huff, Keith Urban

Mix Engineer: Chris Lord-Alge

“Body Like A Back Road” – Sam Hunt

Producer: Zach Crowell

Mix Engineer: Zach Crowell

“Dirt On My Boots” – Jon Pardi

Producers: Bart Butler, Jon Pardi

Mix Engineer: Ryan Gore

“Tin Man” – Miranda Lambert

Producers: Frank Liddell, Eric Masse, Glenn Worf

Mix Engineer: Eric Masse

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

(Award goes to Artist and Producer(s))

The Breaker – Little Big Town

Producer: Jay Joyce

From A Room: Volume 1 – Chris Stapleton

Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton

Heart Break – Lady Antebellum

Producer: busbee

The Nashville Sound – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Producer: Dave Cobb

The Weight of These Wings – Miranda Lambert

Producers: Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf, Eric Masse

SONG OF THE YEAR

(Award goes to Songwriter(s))

“Better Man”

Songwriter: Taylor Swift

“Blue Ain’t Your Color”

Songwriters: Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen

“Body Like A Back Road”

Songwriters: Zach Crowell, Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne

“Dirt On My Boots”

Songwriters: Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley

“Tin Man”

Songwriters: Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Kelsea Ballerini

Miranda Lambert

Reba McEntire

Maren Morris

Carrie Underwood

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Dierks Bentley

Eric Church

Thomas Rhett

Chris Stapleton

Keith Urban

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Lady Antebellum

Little Big Town

Old Dominion

Rascal Flatts

Zac Brown Band

VOCAL DUO OF THE YEAR

Brothers Osborne

Dan + Shay

Florida Georgia Line

LOCASH

Maddie & Tae

MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR

(Award goes to each Artist)

“Craving You” – Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris

“Funny How Time Slips Away” – Glen Campbell with Willie Nelson

“Kill A Word” – Eric Church featuring Rhiannon Giddens

“Setting the World on Fire” – Kenny Chesney with P!nk

“Speak to a Girl” – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR

(Award goes to Artist and Director(s))

“Better Man” – Little Big Town

Directors: Becky Fluke and Reid Long

“Blue Ain’t Your Color” – Keith Urban

Director: Carter Smith

“Craving You” – Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris

Director: TK McKamy

“It Ain’t My Fault” – Brothers Osborne

Directors: Wes Edwards and Ryan Silver

“Vice” – Miranda Lambert

Director: Trey Fanjoy

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Lauren Alaina

Luke Combs

Old Dominion

Jon Pardi

Brett Young

Sam Hunt will appear on ESPN’s College GameDay as a guest picker on Saturday (September 2nd) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in advance of the game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Florida State (8pm on ABC). The multi-platinum superstar, whose recent single “Body Like a Back Road” was just certified triple platinum, is the first guest picker during the show, which airs from 9am to noon ET on ESPN.

Sam is also set to co-host the next new episode of SportsCenter presents: Marty Smith’s America on Tuesday (September 5th) at 9pm ET on ESPN2. He will join the host as they highlight the return of football at the University of Alabama-Birmingham after being shut down for two years due to financial reasons.

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Shania Twain will perform on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Shania Twain on Wednesday night (August 16th).

Shania Twain joins the cast of John Travolta’s racing movie, Trading Paint, which is currently in production, according to Variety. The film, also featuring Michael Madsen (The Hateful Eight, Kill Bill, Donnie Brasco), Kevin Dunn (True Detective, Veep) and Toby Sebastian (Game of Thrones), is about a veteran race car driver and his son, a fellow driver, who overcome family and professional conflicts, balancing competition, ego, resentment and a racing nemesis to come out stronger on the other side.

Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood picked up trophies at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards over the weekend. Carrie took home the Choice Country Artist trophy, while Sam’s “Body Like a Back Road” was named the Choice Country Song.

Little Big Town will perform on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday night (August 17th).

Josh Turner’s ”Hometown Girl” has been certified gold by the RIAA for more than 500,000 digital downloads.

Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” has been certified double platinum (for two million copies sold), while “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underwood, has gone gold.

Sam Hunt is still flying high at the top of the charts with “Body Like a Back Road,” which was just certified double platinum by the RIAA.

He’s overwhelmed by the excitement fans have shown him over the song that has dominated 2017 thus far, as well as the anticipation they’re feeling about future new music, which he says inspires him to be a better songwriter and artist.

“It’s flattering to know that people are anxiously awaiting new music,” says Sam. “Part of the reason I take more care with the writing process and the recording process and making sure the songs are right is because there’s an expectation that they have and I want to meet that with the new music. And I work really hard on the songs and in the studio to try to make sure that I’m not just ever phoning it in…As I’m writing the songs, I always appreciate that anticipation. It always inspires me to work even harder to make sure the songs are ready and right when I put ‘em out.”

Sam takes his 15 in a 30 Tour to Los Angeles for a two-night stand on Tuesday (August 15th) and Wednesday (August 16th).

Sam Hunt will perform his huge smash “Body Like a Back Road” on this year’s CMA Fest television special premiering August 16th at 8pm ET/7pm CT on ABC. Check out the sneak peek below.

Sam Hunt performing on his headlining 15 In A 30 Tour Photo Credit: Connor Dwyer

Country star Sam Hunt’s smash single “Body Like A Back Road” shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart over six months ago, where it has remained for an unprecedented 25 consecutive weeks, breaking the record for most weeks atop the nearly 59-year-old chart.  The three-week country radio No. 1 hit written by Hunt, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne also consistently landed in the Top 5 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for 16 straight weeks, longer than all other songs in the chart’s 25-year history.

While also climbing Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, “Body Like A Back Road” is currently the No. 1 most streamed country song, the No. 1 most downloaded country song and the No. 3 most downloaded all-genre song of 2017 and it is now RIAA-certified Triple Platinum. With over 261M streams, the massive single has set and broken 14 country streaming records including becoming the fastest song to cross 100M and 200M streams.

“Body Like A Back Road” comes as fans eagerly await Hunt’s forthcoming sophomore album, the follow-up to the singer/songwriter’s Grammy-nominated, Triple Platinum-selling debut album, Montevallo, featuring a record-breaking four No. 1 singles and five Platinum and Multi-Platinum-selling hits including “Leave the Night On,” “House Party,” “Take Your Time,” “Break Up In A Small Town” and “Make You Miss Me.”

Hunt is currently selling out venues across the country on his 15 In A 30 Tour with special guests Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese.  Upcoming dates include San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento and two nights in Los Angeles.

For information on Sam Hunt, “Body Like A Back Road,” the 15 In A 30 Tour and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.

www.SamHunt.com | facebook.com/SamHuntMusic | twitter.com/SamHuntMusic | instagram.com/SamHuntMusic

Catch several of this year’s hottest performances from CMA Music Festival during ABC’s CMA Fest television special. Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Lady Antebellum will take the stage, along with collaborations between Dierks Bentley and Cole Swindell and Darius Rucker with Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, among others. The music event will air August 16th at 8pm ET on ABC.

Chris Stapleton’s From A Room: Volume 1 is the No. 1 country album in the nation this week. His Traveller album lands at No. 2, followed by Keith Urban’s Ripcord at No. 3.

Chris Stapleton‘s From a Room: Volume 1 has been certified gold by the R.I.A.A for more than 500,000 copies sold.

Kacey Musgraves (along with her fiancé Ruston Kelly) are among the singer-songwriters who are adding their vocals and music to poems Johnny Cash had written throughout the years that are being turned into a tribute album to the Man in Black. The collection, which will be called Johnny Cash Forever Words: The Music, will also feature contributions from Brad Paisley, Jewel, Jamey Johnson, T-Bone Burnett and the late Chris Cornell. Kacey and Ruston recently debuted their duet, “To June, This Morning,” at Blackberry Farm in East Tennessee. Johnny wrote the poem for his wife, June Carter Cash, more than 45 years ago.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWX_GXrF1_G/?taken-by=spaceykacey

Sam Hunt garners more nominations at this year’s Teen Choice Awards, which just announced its second wave of nominees. He grabbed two more nods, including Choice Country Song for “Body Like a Back Road,” as well as Choice Summer Tour for his 15 in a 30 Tour. Sam was previously nominated for Choice Country Artist and the all-genre Choice Song for his huge smash hit, “Body Like a Back Road.” Voting is now open at TeenChoice.com or fans can tweet the category hashtag with the nominee’s name through July 19^th. The Teen Choice Awards will air live August 13^th at 8pm ET on FOX.

Keith Urban’s lovely wife, Nicole Kidman, has earned an Emmy nomination for her role as “Celeste Wright“ in HBO’s Big Little Lies, alongside her friend Reese Witherspoon. The show was also nominated in the Outstanding Limited Series category and ended up with 16 nominations. The Emmys will air live September 17^th at 8pm ET on CBS.

16 Emmy noms for Big Little Lies!!!! So proud of you baby- and ALL the BLL family!!!!! xxxx – KU

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) July 13, 2017

Keith Urban will make a return appearance on HSN this weekend. He’ll be performing and chatting about his line of Urban Guitars, including The Keith Urban American Vintage Acoustic 40-piece Guitar Package and The Keith Urban Ripcord Series 40-piece Guitar Package. Watch him on Saturday (July 8th) from 7pm – 9pm ET and Sunday (July 9th) from 4pm – 6pm ET and 10pm – 12am ET.

Little Big Town, Darius Rucker and many more stars will perform during the Grand Ole Opry’s “Total Eclipse 2017” party. The Opry, positioned to be in the direct path of the Total Eclipse, will celebrate the historic event with a special Sunday Night show August 20th. The eclipse will take place the next day, August 21st.
Grand Ole Opry Total Eclipse 2017 Schedule of Events:

Sunday, August 20, 7p.m.       Grand Ole Opry Total Eclipse Show

Monday, August 21, 11 a.m.   Grand Ole Opry Total Eclipse Plaza Party

August 21 Eclipse Timing:

Partial eclipse begins: 11:58 a.m. CDT

Start of totality: 1:27 p.m. CDT

Partial eclipse ends: 2:54 p.m. CDT

Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road remains at the top of the Hot Country Songs chart — which in addition to radio airplay, also factors in streaming and digital sales – for a 21st week. Last week, the song broke the record for longest stay at No. 1 for a solo artist, bypassing Leroy Van Dyke’s 1961 hit “Walk on By.” By the way, Florida Georgia Line hold the record for longest time overall at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs with “Cruise” at 24 weeks.

In what is easily the biggest country song of 2017, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road” released to country radio Feb. 1 and raced to the top of the charts in only twelve weeks. The three-week No. 1 still remains in the Top 5 titles for country radio airplay and is currently climbing pop radio’s Top 15. “Body Like A Back Road” is also on a 20-week streak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the longest command for a song by a solo male ever on the nearly 59-year-old chart. Sales and streams of this song juggernaut quickly surpassed the Gold and Platinum sales standards and “Body Like A Back Road” is now RIAA-certified Double Platinum in record time for the Georgia native.

Written by Hunt, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, “Body Like A Back Road” is the No. 1 most-downloaded country song of 2017 so far and is the No. 3 most-downloaded song across all genres year-to-date. The “playfully flirty love song” (Billboard) is the fastest country song in history to reach 100M total streams (10 weeks) and with over 212M total streams is the Top Streaming Country Song of 2017.

Additionally, Hunt’s monumental 2014 debut album, Montevallo, is now RIAA–certified Triple Platinum. Montevallo topped the Billboard Country Albums Chart in its first week and remains the best-selling debut album for a country artist since 2011. The album landed on multiple “Best of” lists including the Associated Press, Billboard, Country Weekly, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, SPIN Magazine, Village Voice and The Washington Post. It also produced a record-breaking four No. 1 singles and five Platinum and Multi-Platinum-selling hits including “Leave the Night On,” “House Party,” “Take Your Time,” “Break Up In A Small Town” and “Make You Miss Me.”

This summer, fans can find Hunt selling out venues across the country on his 15 In A 30 Tour with special guests Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese. Upcoming dates include St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati.

For information on Sam Hunt, “Body Like A Back Road,” the 15 In A 30 Tour and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.

Audio / Sam Hunt talks about his song choices for his debut album, Montevallo.

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Sam Hunt (song choices) OC: …in that way. :52
“I had about 14 or 15 songs ready when I went to make the record. I couldn’t decide, after the first 10, I couldn’t decide what to pick. So, at the end of the day, these 10 songs were the songs that I absolutely HAD to put on the record. I didn’t want to overwhelm people with a ton of songs. I wanted them to really digest these songs especially. So, I just stuck with 10. I don’t know what plans will be in the future as far as putting out new music, but hopefully I’ll be able to put out music sooner than later, because I want to continue to write and I do have songs that folks haven’t heard. You only get one first album, and these are the songs I feel like best represented the era of writing my first album. Every song is a little bit different. The other songs that I have would have been a slight version of something that’s already on the record, so I wanted to keep it unique in that way.”

Audio / Sam Hunt says he’s thankful for the success of his song, “Body Like a Back Road.”

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Sam Hunt (Body Like a Back Road success) OC: …eight ball. [laughs] :53
“I can’t say that I expected for it to do as well as it has done. If you listen to the first record, you can see how I fit into that song, but also it’s different. It’s not like anything from the first record, so it was cool to go out on a limb a little bit, but to have the fans of the first record get on board. So, that was cool. But yeah, the success that it’s had has just been awesome. It’s not that polarizing of a song, so fortunately I think it’s palatable to a lot of tastes and people have enjoyed it, hopefully. So, it’s been awesome to have a song after the first record. Your second record is always the thing that everybody’s saying, ‘Well, let’s see if he can do it again’ or whatever. They call it the ‘Sophomore Slump,’ I think. I’m just so glad that [laughs] this song has reacted right off the bat and I don’t feel like I’m behind the eight ball.” [laughs]